Elkins hits it out of the park again with this engrossing book! Intelligent plotting and character development excel in this one.

Thank you Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC.

Oh boy, does life start at 40 indeed!
Valentino is a currently-not-so-happy art curator for the NY Metropolitan, off to Italy to organize an upcoming exhibition. Just before leaving he's asked to negotiate two recently recovered sketches by Renoir, now on hold in Milan. Longing for purpose and adventure he jumps at the opportunity. And what a ride it turns out to be!

Being an Art Buff myself, this book grabbed me from the start and I finished it in one sitting.
The writing is exquisite. Mr. Elkins sure has a way with words. I loved the quirky dialogue, all those artfully wicked characters had me laugh out loud several times. Indepth descriptions of people and places. I was right there enjoying the sights and sounds of Milan.
As the story progresses the pace picks up, on a mission to get the sketches back to their rightful owner.
'A Long Time Coming' is an exciting murder-mystery covering art, auction, a heist and Nutella brioches...
Very entertaining and highly recommended.

Mr. Elkins delivers us a two for one delightful trip into the complex world of fine art buying, selling and exhibiting. The first part of the trip is a well done "who done it" concerning the theft of two priceless paintings. The second part is a primer on the intricacies of dealing with art; it's valuations, it's insiders that make livings off it and why some paintings are worth fortunes and others almost nothing.
Art curator Val Caruso is an assistant to the head curator at the prestigious Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. He has reached a triple whammy in his life. He has been passed over for promotion, his divorce from his wife has just been finalized, and he feels in a rut in general. A group of paintings in Italy have been offered for exhibit at museums around the United States and Val is chosen to travel to Milan on behalf of all the prospective exhibitors to coordinate necessary details and requirements to bring the works to the America. The trip might be made to order for him to temporarily get out of Dodge.
Before leaving on the trip he is asked while in Italy if he would attempt to obtain a pair of Renoir paintings from their owner in Milan and restore them to a man whose family had them stolen by Italian Fascists at the end of World War II. The art work is early Renoir and not listed in catalogs delineating the artist's later paintings. This fact alone makes them extremely valuable. Val understands that the legalities surrounding art stolen and than resold to legitimate buyers is fuzzy in the extreme, but does promise to see if the present owner will consent to lend the two paintings to Sol Bezzecca the last living descendant of the family that originally owned them. Apparently this is an action that might satisfy all concerned with the paintings restored upon the death of Mr Bezzecca to the owner.
Arriving in Milan Val finds himself involved with the present day remnants of a plot beginning decades ago involving forgers, thieves and an unknown someone that wants him out of the way due to his art expertise. Val had lived in Milan years ago to work with and learn the trade of art dealing and still has friends there that he can call upon for help.

The novel is a well done story set within the technical confines of the movement of fine art from sellers to buyers. Mr. Elkins gives the reader all the information necessary to understand the intricacies of fine art buying and selling without too much redundancy to spoil the read. I found myself in a welcome learning experience while enjoying a very good novel.

I thoroughly enjoyed the plot, atmosphere, and characters. I would recommend the book to friends and family for their reading pleasure.

5 stars

Valentino “Val” Caruso is a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. He is feeling rather sorry for himself, for he believes he has hit the trifecta of bad luck: the end of his marriage, a promotion denied and he just turned forty.

An organization called IRSA which recovers stolen art works that were “disappeared” during WWII calls Val and asks him if he’d like an exciting mission. Since he is off to Italy anyway, he says sure. Solomon Bezzecca is looking for his great-grandfather’s stolen Renoirs. They were looted by the Italian Fascist militia during the war.

The now owner of the painting happens to be an old friend of Val’s named Ulisse Agnello, and who is basically a good guy. Hopefully, it won’t be too much trouble to get him to agree to a loan of one of the paintings for the balance of Sol’s life. He is eighty-nine after all. When he gets to Italy, Val immediately calls his old friend. He has no problem loaning – or maybe even giving – the painting to the elderly man. However, there is a problem. It seems that Ulisse had to borrow money from a local wealthy man to pay for the lawsuits regarding the paintings. He had to put the paintings up as collateral.

When Val and art restorer Dante are attacked and the paintings stolen, it throws another wrench into the works. They are both transported to the hospital and treated. Val goes to the police station for an appointment with an old acquaintance, Lieutenant Luca Fontanella. Luca throws a wrench into the works when he asks Val is Ulisse could have had something to do with the theft and assault. At first, Val disputes this, but the more he thinks about it…could it be possible?

I really liked Val’s asides about the character and demeanor of the people he meets. It was a refreshing and smart-alecky way of describing people. I found it both humorous and in good fun.

I’ve read many of Aaron Elkins’ novels, and this one is as well written and plotted as the other ones I’ve read. Poor Val is going through a life crisis when he receives word of an elderly man to whom he can restore the past. He will do this by obtaining the looted art that was stolen during WWII. The tension in our story begins here and it is very subtle at first. It gradually builds as Val meets Sol and vows do to all he can to get the art work back. Sol’s story is very hard to hear and Val’s heart goes out to him. Mr. Elkins’ characterizations are absolutely wonderful. He made the people in the book colorful. The reader gets a full picture on the person and almost as if you met them in real life. I was very interested in Mr. Elkins’ descriptions of the art world and how art auctions work. It was fascinating. This is a great novel, and I was so happy to be put on to Mr. Elkins’ work once more. I had relegated him almost to the back of my mind. I’d like to see more of Val Caruso and immediately went to Amazon to look for other novels about Val.

I want to thank NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for forwarding to me a copy of this wonderful book to read, enjoy and review.

We are big fans of Elkins' Gideon Oliver series, which has remained a strong and entertaining series for its entire length. This series, though, features art curator Val Caruso. He's not a bad character, just sort of bland, and with a specialty that doesn't necessarily lend itself to ripping or novel plots. That's would you get here. The book is workmanlike and better than no Elkins at all, but still a step below the Oliver series.